8-Day Uganda and Kenya Gorilla and Chimpanzee Safari

You'll leave Entebbe after breakfast for the drive west to Kibale National Park, a journey of around six to seven hours that crosses the equator and climbs through the tea estates of Fort Portal before dropping into the forested hills that ring the park. Your guide will stop at the equator marker for photographs and again for lunch along the way, breaking up a day that is mostly road but rewards with changing scenery, from open farmland to the deep green of the Rwenzori foothills.

You'll arrive at Turaco Treetops Lodge in the late afternoon, in time to settle into your room among the forest canopy before dinner. The lodge borders Kibale itself, so evening sounds already include the calls of colobus monkeys and, occasionally, chimpanzees settling for the night.

You'll set out early for chimpanzee tracking in Kibale, one of the most reliable places in Africa for encounters with wild chimps. Walking with a ranger through tall forest and tangled undergrowth, you'll follow calls and fresh signs until you locate a group, often feeding, grooming or resting in the canopy, and you'll spend an hour observing their behaviour at close range before returning to the lodge for a late breakfast.

After breakfast you'll begin the long transfer south to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, roughly eight to nine hours on winding roads through the Ugandan highlands, with a stop for lunch along the way. The final stretch climbs steeply into the terraced hills around Rushaga, and you'll reach Rushaga Gorilla Lodge as dusk settles over the forest, ready for an early start the next morning.

After an early breakfast you'll join a briefing at the Rushaga sector office before setting off into Bwindi's dense, mist-covered forest in search of mountain gorillas. Treks vary in length and can involve steep, muddy terrain, but reaching a habituated family and spending an hour watching them feed and interact at close quarters is the reward, whether the walk takes two hours or five. Porters are available if you want extra support on the climb.

By early afternoon you'll be back at the lodge for a late lunch, then continue on to Lake Bunyonyi, a short drive of around ninety minutes through terraced hillsides dotted with small islands. You'll check into Bunyonyi Overland Resort on the lakeshore, with the rest of the afternoon free to relax, take a dugout canoe out on the water or simply enjoy the view across one of Uganda's calmest landscapes.

You'll have a relaxed morning at Bunyonyi Overland Resort, with time for a short walk along the lakeshore or a final canoe paddle before checking out. Your guide will then drive you to the regional airstrip for a flight connecting on to Nairobi, the route giving good views over southwestern Uganda's terraced hills before crossing into Kenyan airspace.

On arrival in Nairobi you'll be transferred to the Ole Sereni Hotel, positioned on the edge of Nairobi National Park with views across open grassland from many rooms. The rest of the day is free to rest after two demanding days of trekking, with the option of an evening stroll through the hotel gardens where zebra and giraffe sometimes graze just beyond the boundary fence.

You'll spend the morning visiting two of Nairobi's best-known conservation projects. At the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust you'll watch orphaned elephant calves being fed and bathed by their keepers, a programme that has returned hundreds of animals to the wild over four decades. From there you'll continue to the Giraffe Centre, where Rothschild's giraffes approach a raised platform and you can feed them by hand, an easy way to see the species up close after days focused on forest primates.

In the afternoon you'll have free time at the Ole Sereni Hotel, with the option of a short game drive into neighbouring Nairobi National Park, one of the few reserves bordering a capital city, where lion, buffalo and black rhino are all possible against a backdrop of distant skyscrapers. The evening is left open for dinner at the hotel.

After an early breakfast you'll transfer to Wilson Airport for a scheduled flight to the Maasai Mara, a route that saves the six-hour road journey and gives sweeping aerial views over the Great Rift Valley and the Loita Hills as you approach the reserve. Landing on one of the Mara's grass airstrips, you'll be met by your guide and driven directly into the reserve for lunch at camp.

The afternoon is given over to your first game drive across the open plains, still relatively cool and often the best time to find predators moving. The Mara's short grass and scattered acacia make sightings of lion, cheetah and elephant likely even on this first outing, and you'll return to Enkorok Mara Camp as the light lowers, with a chance of hyena calls carrying across camp after dark.

You'll head out early while the air is still cool, when big cats are often most active before the heat of the day sends them into shade. Your guide will track along the Mara's river drainages and open grassland, looking for lion prides, cheetah scanning for prey from termite mounds, and the large herds of wildebeest and zebra that give the reserve its reputation. You'll return to camp for a late breakfast and a break through the warmest hours.

In the afternoon you'll set out again, this time heading toward the Mara River, where hippo pods gather in the deeper pools and crocodiles bask on the sandbanks. Depending on the season this stretch of river is also where the wildebeest crossings take place. You'll finish the day with sundowners overlooking the plains before returning to Enkorok Mara Camp for dinner.

You'll have one last early game drive in the Mara, using the cooler morning hours to look for anything missed over the previous two days, whether that is a leopard along a wooded riverline or a final look at the resident lion prides. Breakfast back at camp gives time to reflect on the trip before packing for departure.

Your guide will then drive you to the airstrip for your scheduled flight back to Nairobi, retracing the route over the Rift Valley escarpment. On arrival you'll be transferred to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in good time for your onward international flight, bringing the safari to a close.